A day in the life of a college student

Ashish Chauhan
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

The college schedule is very different than the traditional high school schedule. Typically, there is a lot more flexibility with your college classes. In high school, you were probably told that you had to take US History, which was offered every day at 10:00 am. In college, you’ll probably need to take a history class, but you could have 10 choices, which would be offered on different days, at different times, and for different duration.

The other cool thing about the college schedule is that you usually have more opportunities to explore your interests and passions. For example, you will be picking a major that will determine the types of classes you will specialize in. In high school, you have a set curriculum of classes you have to take across all subject areas. In college, think about your schedule as a pyramid. Your freshman and sophomore year, you’ll take more general education classes (a mixture of everything so you walk away well-rounded) and a few classes in your major. But during your junior and senior year, you’ll take fewer general education classes and more classes in your major.

Related: Find scholarships for your major

Another big difference you should be aware of is the time structure. Right now, you’re probably in school from about 7:30 am–2:30 pm, Monday through Friday. This will not be the case in college, where you usually take four or five classes at different times throughout the week. You might have a science class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:10–11:00 am. Perhaps you’ll have a Spanish class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:15–3:00 pm. Then, you might have your Introduction to Education class on Wednesday evenings from 6:30–9:00 pm. Maybe on Mondays you’ll have three classes, and on Tuesdays you’ll have two classes. There will always be some courses that are only offered on certain days at certain times, but for the most part, there are a lot of options to think about! If you’re a morning person, you might want to schedule your classes to be done by noon. If you’re more of a night owl, having that first class start at 1:15 in the afternoon might be the best thing to ever happen to you. And you definitely won’t be in class for seven hours straight!

However, college is like high school in that you will have the opportunity to get involved by joining different clubs, organizations, and maybe even by getting a part-time job. Most schools have hundreds of extracurricular activities, and it is pretty easy to start one as well. So, as you can imagine, your schedule can get crazy with meetings, band practice, sport practice, play rehearsal, work hours, etc.!

Of course, the best way to see what a true day in the life of a college student is like is to actually get the schedules of some college students! Here are two undergraduates and their real-life experiences.

  • 9:15 am I woke up early this time! Let’s get some breakfast! On second thought…snooze button.
  • 9:45 am Finally up and ready for 10:00 am class. Don’t need to worry about being late with my trusty Beach Cruiser.
  • 10:00–11:50 am Entrepreneurship class, listening to fellow classmates give their business elevator pitches. Awesome!
  • 12:00–1:50 pm Break for lunch at Commons and head back to the dorm to watch that episode of The Walking Dead I missed last night.
  • 2:00–4:50 pm Ugh, three-hour class; it’s a design class though, so I get to use my laptop.
  • 5:00–7:00 pm Hang out at the dorm and get dinner with my residents. It’s a lot of fun being a resident advisor!
  • 8:00–10:00 pm Rehearsal with my a cappella group. I’m president this year, so I need to make sure I’m there on time!
  • 10:15 pm–1:00 am Homework, reading, and dorm hall shenanigans. Did someone say Halo 5? Sweet…

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